Journal: City, Territory and Architecture

Abbreviation

City Territ Archit

Publisher

SpringerOpen

Journal Volumes

ISSN

2195-2701

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2018 - 201912020 - 20252
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Publications 1 - 3 of 3
  • Land-allocation and clan-formation in modern residential developments in Oman
    Item type: Journal Article
    Heim, Bernhard; Joosten, Marc; von Richthofen, Aurel; et al. (2018)
    City, Territory and Architecture
    Affordable housing with fair and transparent land-allocation measures is a challenge for many countries. The Sultanate of Oman solves this issue by means of land-allocation lotteries in which male and female citizens can participate in order to win a parcel of a new housing area. Besides supporting those in financial need the lottery aims to mix the separate tribes of Oman and thus contribute to the nation building of a modern society. In an earlier work, we showed that there must be severe doubts about the economic support aspect as it seems that the current lottery, without additional measures, fuels private land speculation, see Heim et al. (Homo Oecon 35:1–30, 2018). This article studies the emergent phenomenon of clan formation within the specific land-allocation system of Oman with a new mathematical and computational approach of agent-based modelling. This model is used to base the criticism to the system on scientific evidence. Both the method (clan formation exemplified as agent-based model) and findings (simulated agents and real-world behaviour) advance the discussion on how to mitigate some of the negative effects associated with the current land allocation system. To do so, we discuss the current state and criticism around this aspect of urbanisation in Oman. We study the spatial mixing of the tribes and the possibility of clan formation in modern Omani settlements in particular Muscat Capital Area. We see emergent phenomena arising from the agent-based model that matches real world behaviour leading to negative effects such as partial and incomplete land development, tribal clustering and real-estate market distortion. The agent-based model is used to discuss alternative scenarios under which tribal clan formation is used to generate a fairer and more complete settlement process in Oman to ensure the intended outcomes of Oman’s land-allocation lottery system.
  • Towards sustainable urban densification: governmental timidity vs. 4D-Geodesigning urban transformation in Baden, Switzerland
    Item type: Journal Article
    Wälty, Sibylle; Silberberger, Jan (2025)
    City, Territory and Architecture
    Urban densification remains a contentious issue, often hindered by preservationist attitudes and risk-averse governance. This study contrasts two planning approaches in Baden, Switzerland: the Oberstadt + project, which applied a data-driven, evidence-based framework to foster a 10-Minute-Neighbourhood, and the In-Depth Study Oberstadt, which prioritized minimal intervention and preservation. The comparative analysis is based on a mixed-methods approach combining spatial data modeling, scenario planning, iterative stakeholder consultations, and autoethnography. Our findings reveal that conventional planning paradigms often lack methodological rigor, leading to suboptimal outcomes. In contrast, scientifically substantiated urban design—incorporating traceable metrics, iterative stakeholder engagement, and verifiable long-term scenarios—enhances both sustainability and public acceptance. The research highlights how governance structures can either enable or obstruct transformative urban planning, and argues for a shift away from intuition-based decision-making towards a structured, participatory, and evidence-driven process. By challenging the timidity of municipal decision-makers and advocating for transparent, quantitative planning tools, this paper underscores the need for a paradigm shift in urban transformation. It calls for city administrations and experts to embrace verifiable, inclusive design methodologies to reconcile urban growth with sustainability imperatives.
  • Ugliness in architecture in the Australian, American, British and Italian milieus: Subtopia between the 1950s and the 1970s
    Item type: Journal Article
    Charitonidou, Marianna (2022)
    City, Territory and Architecture
    The article examines the reorientations of the appreciation of ugliness within different national contexts in a comparative and relational frame, juxtaposing the Australian, American, British and Italian milieus. It also explores the ways in which the transformation of the urban fabric and the effect of suburbanization were perceived in the aforementioned national contexts. Special attention is paid to the production and dissemination of how the city’s uglification was conceptualized between the 1950s and 1970s. Pivotal for the issues that this article addresses are Ian Nairn’s Outrage: On the Disfigurement of Town and Countryside, Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness, Donald Gazzard’s Australian Outrage: The Decay of a Visual Environment, and the way the phenomenon of urban expansion is treated in these books in comparison with other books from the four national contexts under study, such as Ludovico Quaroni’s La torre di Babele and Reyner Banham’s The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic?. Particular emphasis is placed on Boyd’s articles in The Architectural Review between 1951 and 1970. At the core of the article is the analysis of the debates around ugliness between the 1950s and 1970s within the British, Italian, American and Australian contexts.
Publications 1 - 3 of 3